Making shoes with platforms and covers



- N. WALDMAN MAKING'SHOES WITH PLATFORMS AND COVERS 2 Sheets-Sheet '1 Filed June ,2, 1945 Inventor Nathan Wa lamczrzv Aug. 9, 1947.. N. WALDMAN 2,425,906

MAKING SHOES WITH PLATFORMS AND COVERS Filed June 2, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet Patented Aug. 19, 1947 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE E EAKING SHOES WITH PLATFORMS AND COVERS Nathan Waldman, Salem, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. 3., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 2, 1945, Serial No. 597,215

of pressure-sensitive cement applied. to both the cover and the platform, the matters of the application of cement to these parts and the handling of the cemented parts during the making of the shoe are usually particularly time consuming and of such a nature that production on a satisfactory scale cannot be secured without running into the danger that too fast work will result in daubing cement upon the exposed surfaces of theshoe parts. If cement is accidentally applied to a point on the cover such that the latter becomes stuck to the edge of the platform sole, the cover must be drawn free from the sole before it can be pulled up tight and laid over the bottom face of the sole. It is important, therefore, to accurately limit the width of the margin of the cover which is coated so as to leave a clean margin where the cover will contact the periphery of the sole. The

fact that slip-lasted shoes are relatively inexpensive makes it important to devise a procedure which will enable each operator to handle as many shoes in the course of a day as possible, to the end that production costs may be reduced.

A problem which arises in the making of such shoes results from the fact that it is necessary to allow the cement coatings on the surfaces of the two parts which are to be brought into contact to become tacky either by natural or by forced drying. Accordingly, if the procedure is such that these coatings must be dried 1 separately, there is a very considerable waiting time between operations, thereby slowing the work and adding expense.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improved shoemaking procedure by the practice of which manufacturing costs may be reduced by speeding up production while, at the same time, danger of damage to shoes by reason or careless handling and poor workmanship may very largely be avoided.

The invention will best be understood from a consideration of the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a cementing machine and the forepart of a shoe being presented to this machine as the latter is being used 2 in applying a marginal band of cement to the platform cover of the shoe;

Fig. 2 shows the application of cement to the sock lining after completion of the operation shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a composite platform sole to the broad faces of which cement has been applied,"

ready for assembly 'with the shoe;

Fig. 4 shows the shoe with the platform spotted thereon and the cover turned;

Fig. 5 is a vertical, transverse section through the heel portionof -such-a shoe after the laying of the platform cover;- and Fig. 6 shows a completed shoe after an outsole has been'attached thereto.

After shoe uppers such as that shown at 12 have been -prepared,it is customary, in the manufacture of slip-lasted shoes, to attach to the bottom periphery of each upper a sole-shaped piece of cloth l4, usually called a sock lining, as by stitches l6 securing the margin of the sock lining to the margin of the upper. Either just before or justafter this operation, one or more strips of cloth [B -20 or similar material intended to be used for'covering theperiphery of" the platform sole and known as the platform cover are also attached to the upper,- as by stitches 24 securing an "edge portionof the strip to the bottom edge of the upper with that surface of the cover strip.- which is to be'exposed, in the finished shoe, lying against the outer surface of the upper. Such covers are frequently made of two pieces of cloth;

8,211 with their ends overlapping, as at '22,

partly because 'of'the different widths required at the forepart and heel and partly in order to avoid damage to the cover when turning it'down. After these parts have been assembled, a last l0 is forced into the upper'iZ to 'distend it and" Upon so doing the sock facilitate its handling. lining ld'rest against the bottom of the last.' In asmuch as the lines of stitches l6 and 24 frequently are substantially coincident, no attempt has been made in the drawings to differentiate the two.

At this stage in the proceedings, a section through the forepart of the shoe on the last will show the cover I8 standing up around the body of the shoe upper I 2, as in Figs. 1 and 2, which customarily will be provided with a lining 26. It is now desired to apply a band of cement to only the free or unattached marginal portion 28 of that face of the cover strips l8 and 20 which lies away from the shoe, and with a clean margin between the coated portion and the sides attached to the shoe. This clean margin will later cover the edge face of the platform without adhering thereto. I have discovered that thi can be done most expeditiously and with little danger of soiling the upper by performing the operation before the cover i turned because, then, the cover may be held slightly separated from the shoe Without any stretching or straining of the cover material. This may conveniently be done by presenting successive portions of the cover to an upper-cementing machine of the type shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,242,925, granted October 16, 1917, upon the application of J. W. Cosgrove. For this particular operation, the machine will preferably be modified by the provision of a thin work-supporting finger 30 carried on a pivoted arm 32. A spring 34 urges the finger 30 against the Work to hold the latter in contact with an applying roll 36. The limit of movement of this finger 30 toward the roll is determined by a stop screw 38. Cement is supplied to the applying roll 36 from a reservoir 40 having a shut-off valve 42. While it will be understood that a machine such as that illustrated in Fig. l is not essential for the application of a band of cement of controlled width to the platform cover, it does offer a fast and clean method of accomplishing the desired result without danger of coating the upper of the shoe or of getting the coated portion stuck to the upper. Furthermore, the cover as thus applied to the shoe has sufficient stifiness or resistance to folding so that there is practically no danger that the coated margin 28 will come accidentally into contact with the sock lining l4,

It is then convenient, without waiting for the coating of cement on the margin 28 to become tacky, to apply to the sock lining l4, and if desired to the upstanding seam 44, such a coating of cement as may be necessary in order to hold the platform sole in position on the assembled shoe. This coating of the sock lining may be done in any convenient fashion, as, for example, by means of a hand brush 5i], and the operator can conveniently support the shoe by grasping the cone of the last without contacting the fresh cement on the cover. Furthermore, the cover, in its position around the upper, does not interfere with the brush used in coating the sock lining.

In practice, it is found convenient to hasten the drying simultaneously of the two coatings of cement, by positioning the rackswhich support the coated shoes within a drying chamber of any convenient sort. During this drying period, a platform sole 52 (Fig. 3) has been coated on both broad faces in any desired fashion and, if desired, a wedge heel 54 has been attached to the sole by means of cement aided preferably by staples such as that at 56. The exposed surface 58 of this wedge heel is also provided with at least a marginal band of cement.

Since this platform-preparing operation may be carried on during the drying period for the coatings already applied to the shoe, a suificient number of platform soles can be accumulated and dried so that they are ready for use as soon as the coatings previously applied to the cover and sock lining have dried sufiiciently to become tacky. The platform sole is then spotted upon the shoe and the cover portions I8 and 20 are turned to the position alongside the periphery of the platform sole which is indicated in Fig. 4. The platform cover is then laid or lasted over the margin of the platform sole and of the wedge heel, if there is one, this being done either by hand or by machine in any suitable fashion. It will be understood that the portion 28 of the margin of the platform cover which is coated on the machine shown in Fig. 1 is substantially of the same width or slightly less than the width of that portion which projects beyond the surface of the platform sole when the cover has been turned as in Fig. 4 with a clean margin against the edge of the sole. This avoids any sticking of the cover to the edge face of the platform sole 52 and facilitates the cover-laying operation. After the platform cover has been laid, the shoe bottom may be completed by the application to it of an outsole 68 attached by cement in any usual fashion.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

The method of making shoes of the slip-lasted type, which consists in assemblin a shoe upper. a sock lining and a platform cover by joining them around the lower peripheral edge of the upper, said cover overlying the upper and extending upwardly from the bottom of the shoe, inserting a last in the shoe, applying a coating of cement to the free marginal portion only of the outside of this upstanding cover which will overlie the bottom of the shoe, applying a coating of cement to the sock lining, drying said cement coatings substantially simultaneously, attaching a precoated platform sole, turning down the cover including the cemented marginal portion thereof and laying it over upon the bottom of the platform sole and attaching an outsole.

NATHAN WALDMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,359,896 Chandler Oct, 10, 1944 1,675,206 Bell June 26, 1928 

